Patients with well-documented chronic hepatitis C are being evaluated to determine the long-term natural history of this common form of chronic liver disease. A cohort of such patients are available to evaluate experimental therapies. Previous studies have shown that alpha interferon therapy has a short-term beneficial effect in approximately 50% of patients. This response is sustained in approximately 20% after stopping interferon. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of ribavirin showed that a 1 year course of this nucleoside analogue is associated with significant improvement in serum antinotransferase activities and in hepatic lobular necrosis despite unchanged serum levels of HCV RNA. Continuous ribavirin therapy for up to 2 years demonstrates the practicality of long term suppresssive therapy in this disease. A controlled trial of the combination of ribavirin and interferon has been designed.